RWatson Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hello! This is my first post here on the forums. I recently decided to make the switch to being vegan and while so far I am thoroughly enjoying the lifestyle, I am completely lost with my macros. I am not new to bodybuilding I have been lifting for almost two years now and was in the middle of a cut when I switched over to a vegan diet. I was cutting on a standard 40/40/20 macro split, c/p/f respectively, eating the standard bodybuilding foods, brown rice chicken breast etc. I have been wanting to make the switch to a vegan diet for a while for the usual reasons, health reasons, disgusting meat and dairy industry, but I was always afraid I would lose my mass and would not be able to lift effectively. Upon some more research I learned that this is in fact not true at all and also read about how I don't need as much protein as I thought I did. So for the past few weeks I've been eyeballing my foods and haven't really set up any strict macros or guidelines as I wanted to give my body time to adjust to the diet. Now I am gearing up for my lean bulk in a few weeks and I want to finish my cut strong before I transition. So my questions for you guys are the following: What kind of macros do you vegan bodybuilders run on a cut? What kind on a bulk? I'm setting my protein much lower than I previously have at .8 grams per lb. of bodyweight, this seems low to me but from my research it seems like this will be more than enough. What do you guys think? Also, I'm a little concerned about keeping my fat intake so low, i have heard that this can mess with my hormone levels, any insight into this? Any help or information regarding these subjects is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly237 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 .8 grams per lb body weight in protein and .4 in fats works best for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiji Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Is that per lb of lbm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AutemOx Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 A lot of studies point to 0.8g protein/lb body weight being enough. Some say 0.6 is ok. A lot of the pros are between 1.0-2.0, but the studies show that doesn't make any difference. I am for 1.2 but realistically it is more like 0.8 for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiji Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 I don't buy the per lb of body weight theory. 2 people who are at the same weight but have different body fat percentages are going to have different requirements. I'm 187 and have a lean body mass of 166 lbs. I currently take in about 125g of protein per day from whole foods and get 14g of bcaas on training days. I stopped supplementing with protein powders about 5 months ago and have only seen benefits from that decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly237 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Is that per lb of lbm? No per body weight not lbm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eiji Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Is that per lb of lbm? No per body weight not lbm Yeah I got it...but I'm saying that a figure based on lbm will better serve an individual. Reasons based on my previous post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmf Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 ...I'm setting my protein much lower than I previously have at .8 grams per lb. of bodyweight, this seems low to me but from my research it seems like this will be more than enough...Also, I'm a little concerned about keeping my fat intake so low, i have heard that this can mess with my hormone levels, any insight into this? ... There is more risk that one's results will be counterproductive by not getting adequate protein than getting too much protein. (within the context of a relatively balanced diet) So what's the point of challenging your minimum protein requirements? ...to see if you can waste your time at the gym? lol! True on fats...do NOT cut them short. (except for trans fat...eat none) Saturated fats are easily left out in a vegan diet, and you definitely need them. I target 1/3 of my total fat intake to come from saturated fats. Don't forget about omega 3s and 6s. Also, I believe in distributing fat intake throughout the day. As for your macros...vegan or not, macros are macros...they don't change. The only thing that changes is how you get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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